Control device for cleaning machines for textile materials



Nov. 21, 1939. J, MElER Q 2.180,?61

CONTROL DEVICE FOR C LEANING MACHI NES FOR TEXTILE MATERIALS Filed Feb.23, 1938 Patented Nov. 21, 1939 2,180,761 v v CONTROL DEVICE FOR:CLEANING CHINES FOR TEXTILE MATERIALS Josef Meier, Winterthur,Switzerland, assignor to the firm Actiengesell's cha ft 'Joh. Jacob Rie-1 t -ter & Cie, Winterthur, Switzerland Application February 23, 1938;Serial No. 192,192

In Germany January 2, 1937 r r 5 Claims.

This invention relates to control devices for opening and cleaningmachines for textile materials.

According to this invention, the control of coupling means betweensuccessive parts of the machinery is effected by a control devicethrough the intermediary of mechanical expedients and a cooperatingcylinder and piston means operated by a gaseous or liquid operatingmedium of a telemotor system.

By means of a power transmission device of' this kind, the operation ofparts in any portion of a textile opening and cleaning machine can beconveniently regulated to any desired extent,

so that a gradually or rather rapidly increasing speed of a particularpart can be obtained, in contrast to known electric arrangements whichmust be made more powerful throughout and thus are more expensiveaccording to the effort required to be produced.

In using pistons included in cylinders, all that is necessary is toincrease or decrease the size of the piston end surface and to vary theflow-area of the supply piping in adaptation to the speed of operationdesired to be obtained. The piping for the conduction of gaseous orliquid operating medium is all fixed in position in distinction fromrope drives and the like- Furthermore, the diameter of the piping can bemade small, so that the pipe arrangement as such can be convenientlycontrolled, when attending the machine; and is not susceptible to damageby mechanical influences. For these reasons the pipe arrangement is notlikely to cause disturbances.

If, however, disturbances should occasionally arise the souroe thereofcan be easily traced even by unskilled operators, since the place wherethe operating medium'leaks out can be readily discerned, whereas, forexample, in electrical arrangements the work of tracing the source ofdisturbance is complicated and requires the employment of skilled labor.

The cylinder and piston means 'used as elements of the telemotor system,as well as the valve means required for the purposes of the invention,can be manufactured in very simple manner, all of which contributestoward rendering the machine economical. The device according to theinvention has the special advantages that the cylinders used aresubjected to the pres- 1 sure of the operating medium only at one endthereof and that the piston is reset by spring action. By this means theemployment of a second connecting pipe line can be dispensed with, sothat the valve arrangement is considerably simplified. Naturally, if asecond supply conduit were provided, it would have to be connected withthe other end of the cylinder and controlled by separate'valves, butaccording to this invention, such second supply line and control meansis unnecessary. I

Advantageously, in the device according to the invention the valves areelectrically operated,'in which way, the operationof the control meansis expedited, which is particularly advantageous when the machinesconcerned are located a con.-

siderable distance away from each other. In the accompanying drawingwhich illustrates an embodiment of the invention by way of example only:

Fig. 1 is a schematic view of an aggregate composed of a bale openerassociated with a preliminary opener; a

. Fig. 2 is a schematicview of an aggregate composed of a hopper feederassociated with a scutcher; I

, Figs, 3 and 4 are schematic sectional views of mechanical expedientsofthe telemotor system,

and

Fig. 5 is a wiring diagram of an electric system for initiating thecontrol movements of the telemotor system.

Referring to Fig. l of the drawing, the bale opener l is provided withloose and fixed pulleys 3 and 4 respectively which are driven by thesucceeding preliminary opener which is provided with a driving pulleyS-about which a drive belt 6 is slung which is controlled by a beltshipper fork. 8, as shown in Fig. 4. t The belt shipper fork 8. isconnected to a rod 9 the other end of which carries a piston Ill.-The.piston Ill is arranged in a cylinder ll and is acted upon by acompression spring l2. s The raw materialv to be opened is conductedthrough a conduit 1.3 from the preliminary opener .2 into a hopperfeeder 14 which is succeeded by the scutcher I5 provided with a rollingdevice. Driving motion is imparted tothe feed cylinder IS in thescutcher I 5 in a known manner, as indi cated inFig. 3 (the plane ofwhich extends perpendicular to that of Fig. 2), by means ofdisengageable toothed coupling portions ll, 18. The coupling portion [8is controlledby a bell crankv lever 19 which is loaded by a tensionspring 22 and engages witha rod 20 carrying a piston 2| which isarranged in a cylinder 23. feeder l4 includes a sensing means or controlmember 25 similar to a regulating feeler of a known-type. The cylindersII and 23 are connected with a pressure vessel 26 through a pipe Thehopper line a (Figs. 1 and 2), the vessel being supplied, i. e., chargedwith the operating medium used by means of a pump 21. Valve casings 28,29 are included in the pipe line a.

The machine plant illustrated is intended to be operated by means of agaseous medium, preferably, compressed air. In Fig. 2, a sensing meansin the form of a drop lever 30, which stops the scutcher l5 in a mannerknown per se when the twisted stricks are completed, is shown in raisedposition so that valve 3i in the interior of casing 23 is opened bymeans of an auxiliary linkage.

The pressure prevailing in the pressure vessel 26 is thus transmittedthrough pipe line a into cylinder 23 so that piston 2| is forcedupwardly, thereby moving coupling portion I8 into engagement withcoupling portion II by means of the bell crank lever I9, whereupon thefeed cylinder I6 is turned and, consequently, the feed of material isinitiated. When valve 33 is opened by the sensing means or feeler 25through auxiliary linkage (Fig. 2), the action of compression spring I2is overcome by the pressure acting on piston l6, and the belt shipper 8shifts the driving belt 6 over to the fixed pulley 4. In consequencethereof, the bale opener I is operated to feed the succeedingpreliminary opener.

When the drop lever 38 descends, the pressure line is closed by valve 3!(Fig. 2) so that the discharge valve 32, which is-arranged in the samecasing 28, is opened by means of the respective auxiliary linkage. Atthe same time the coupling portions l1, [8 are disengaged by the tensionspring 22 acting on the bell crank lever l9, whereas by the compressionspring !2 acting on the piston I0, the driving belt is shifted over tothe loose pulley 3 in accordance with the movement of piston ID.

If the supply of raw material present in the hopper feeder M issufiicient for maintaining the operation of the plant, the feeler 25rocks in the corresponding direction, that is, rearwardly,

so that valve 33 is closed and a discharge valve 34 arranged in theinterior of the same casing 29 is opened by means of the respectiveauxiliary linkage. In consequence thereof, pressure medium is dischargedfrom the pipe line section leading from the valve casing 29 to thecylinder ll, whereupon the spring-loaded piston I shifts the drivingbelt 6 over to the loose pulley 3, whereby the feed of raw material isinterrupted.

If the pressure line between the opener aggregate is of considerablelength, the feeler 25 may cooperate with an electric switch 35, 36, 31for setting the same (Fig. When the feeler 25 swings backwardly, theswitch control lever 3'! is rocked onto contact member 35 so thatcircuit 27 is closed. Magnet winding 39 is then energised by battery 38,so that discharge valve 40 of casing 42 includedin pressure line a isopened, this valve providing the armature of said winding. Atthe sametime circuit 0 is interrupted at contact 38 by the said rocking movementof the switch control lever 31. In this way the magnet winding 4!, whichup to this time was traversed by current, becomes devoid of current sothat valve 43, which is also arranged inside of casing 42 andconstitutes the armature of an electromagnetic winding 4l, is released,thereby closing the corresponding pipe line section a.

Due to the discharge of pressure medium from cylinder H, the piston H3is displaced, in consequence of which, the driving belt 6 is shiftedover to the loose pulley 3, thereby interrupting the feed of rawmaterial.

This arrangement operates very expeditiously, for the reason thatcylinder H requires but a short length of pressure line, which length isemptied in a correspondingly short time. In order to further reduce thetime of starting the feed of material, a supplementary pressure vesselmay be arranged in the vicinity of cylinder II.

If it is desired to use gaseous or liquid operating mediums for thetelemotor system, which for some season or other cannot be discharged tothe outside, return conduits are arranged between the exits for theoperating medium and the pump 21'. Alternatively, pivotal control flapsfor pipe conduits can be conveniently changed over from one positioninto another with the aid of simple expedients of a construction similarto that described, due to the fact that high pressures can betransmitted by means of the same, in a manner disclosed in Figs. 3 and4, provided that the parts are appropriately dimensioned.

' The pressure dropnecessary for operating the device may be set up by apartial vacuum instead of by superatmospheric pressure.

Various changes and modifications may be made in the practice of myinvention without departing from the principle or spirit thereof, byadding customary practice and established knowledge of the art to thepresent disclosure, and the scope of the appended claims is not to beregarded as limited except as specified therein.

I claim:

1. In a control device for textile cleaning machines for textilematerials, two successive power driven cleaning machine aggregates, adisengageable drive for said preceding aggregate, a cylinder containinga piston for mechanically controlling said drive, disengageable couplingmeans provided in the succeeding aggregate, a feeler arranged in saidsucceeding aggregate, a cylinder containing a piston for mechanicallycontrolling said coupling means, a connecting pipe line between saidcylinders including valve casings having valves for controlling the flowand content of fluid in said line and adjoining spaces, two magnetwindings for lifting the valves of one of said casings, a currentgenerator, two leads each having a terminal contact member forconnecting said windings with the same pole of said generator, a switchcontrol lever actuated by said ieeler for alternate contact making withsaid members, a fluid conduit system cooperating with both saidcylinders of said two aggregates through said pipe line for controllingsaid drive from said succeeding aggregate.

2. A control system for the control of successively operating units ofmachinery for opening and cleaning textile material comprising first andsecond power driven units for treating textile material, couplings forconnecting and disconnecting each of said units from the driving power,means for sensing the quantity of textile material present at a certainlocation in the second unit, a source of pressure fluid, afluid-operated motor for operating one of said couplings, conduit systemconnecting said source with said motor, valves connected in said conduitsystem, one for opening and closing communication between said sourceand said motor, and another 7 connected to said system or conduitsbetween the first-mentioned valve and said motor for opening and closingthe portion of said system between said first-mentioned valve and saidmotor to and from the atmosphere, and means controlled by said sensingmeans for opening and closing said valves alternately to supply andrelease pressure'fluid to and from said motor to connect and disconnectthe coupling controlled thereby in dependence on the quantity of textilematerial present at said location as sensed by said sensing means,

3. A control system for the control of successively operating units ofmachinery for opening and cleaning textile material comprising first andsecond power driven units for treating textile material, couplings forconnecting and disconnecting each of said units from the driving power,means for sensing the quantity of textile material present at a certainlocation in the second unit, a source of pressure fluid, afluid-operated motor for operating the coupling of the first unit, asystem of conduits connecting said source with said motor, valves insaid conduit system, one for opening and closing communication betweensaid source andsaid motor, and another connected to said system ofconduits between the first-mentioned valve and said motor for openingand closingthe portion of the conduit system between saidfirst-mentioned valve and said motor to and from the atmosphere, andmeans controlled by said sensing means for opening and closing saidvalves alternately to supply and release pressure fluid to and from saidmotor to connect and disconnect the coupling controlled thereby independence on the quantity of textile material present at said locationas sensed by said sensing means.

l. A control system for the control of successively operating units ofmachinery for opening and cleaning textile material comprising first andsecond power driven units for treating textile material, couplings forconnecting and disconnecting each of said units from the driving power,means for sensing the quantity of textile material present at a certainlocation in the second unit, a source of pressure fluid, afluid-operated motor for operating the coupling of the first unit, asystem of conduits connecting said source with said motor, a pair ofvalves in said conduit system, one for opening and closing communicationbetween said source and said motor, and another connected to said systemof conduits between said first-mentioned valve and said motor foropening and closing the portion of said conduit system between saidfirst mentioned valve and said motor to and from the atmosphere, meanscontrolled by said sensing means for opening and lease pressure fluid toand from said motor to connect and disconnect the coupling controlledthereby in dependence on the quantity of textile material present atsaid location as sensed by said sensing means, a further sensing meansfor sensing' the quantity of textile material present at a locationforwardly in the direction of movement of said material from thefirst-mentioned location, a second fluid-operated motor, said secondmotor being connected to operate the coupling of the second unit, saidsystem of conduits connecting the source of fluid with said secondmotor, and a second pair of valves connected in said conduit betweensaid source and said second motor, one of said second set of valvescontrolling supply from said source to said second motor, and the othercontrolling discharge to the atmosphere from a point in said systembeyond said one valve of said second set, and means for operating saidsecond set of valves oppositely to close off supply of fluid to saidsystem of conduits and to open said system to the atmosphere betweensaid two sets of valves when the sensing means at said second locationsenses the presence of a predetermined quantity of material at saidsecond location.

5. A control system for control of successively operating units ofmachinery for opening and cleaning textile material comprising first andsecond power driven units for treating textile material, couplings forconnecting and disconnecting each of said units from the driving power,the coupling of the first unit comprising driving pulleys and idlerpulleys, a driving belt, and a belt shipper, means for sensing thequantity of textile material present at a certain location in the secondunit, a source of pressure fluid, a fluidoperated motor for operatingsaid belt shipper, a system of conduits connecting said source with saidmotor, valves connected in said conduit system, one for opening'andclosing communication between said source and said motor, and anotherconnected to said system between said first-mentioned valve and saidmotor for opening and closing the portion of said conduit system betweensaid one valve and said motor to andfrom the atmosphere, and meanscontrolled by said sensing'means for opening and closing said valvesalternately to supply and release pressure fluid to and from said motorto ship said belt to driving or idling position in dependence on thequantity of textile material present at said location as sensed by saidsensing means.

JOSEF MEIER.

